There's No Such Thing as a Day Off
by Hawkeye329
Summary: Kakashi never takes a day off. But when he wakes up sicker than a dog on the day of a mission, things just spiral downhill and he begins to think that it would be better if he just died, especially when dealing with three bickering teens and a headache.


There's No Such Thing as a Day Off

A Naruto Oneshot

. . .

Hatake, Kakashi never took days off. It didn't matter if he missed a night or four's worth of sleep, had family/friends matters, or if he was asked out on a date. Every day, he reported in to his ninja duties to the Hokage of Konohagakure and carried out mission after mission, training three genin, and doing everything he could to protect those he cared for when times called for it.

But one day, Kakashi woke up from a very restless sleep with a stuffy nose and a dry, sore throat. He sat up in his bed slowly, furrowing his brows as his body ached with every move he made. Running a hand down his face, he suddenly coughed, a moan following after. He sniffled, running a hand through his matted and sweat drenched hair. He had woken up sick…and for once he wanted to take just one day off. He lay back down, both hands covering his clammy face, his arms trembling. "Of all days." He rasped out to himself, thinking about what day it was. It was the day he promised to take Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to the lake at the far end of the village for some training exercises and for some 'ninja fishing'. They had been working hard the past few weeks and he wanted to treat them to a little fun while fitting in some new skills at the same time.

A pecking at his window suddenly caught his attention and Kakashi looked up to see a messenger hawk staring at him from the other side of the glass. He pulled himself shakily from the bed and stumbled over to the window, grimacing at the bright light and the pain it caused his eyes. He opened the window and reached out for the small note attached to the hawk's leg. After retrieving it, the bird flew away and he shut the glass and went back to his bed, lying down as he unfolded the paper.

_Kakashi,_

_I know you put in for a day off from missions for your team, but I have to ask you to save it for tomorrow. There is an errand I need taken care of and cell 7 is perfect for the job. Report to my office within the hour. Normally, I would just send the retrieval bird for you to come see me, but I thought this would be better to show to the genin._

_Lady Fifth_

"Great…" He crumpled the letter and let it drop to the floor, wincing at how much it hurt his ears to hear the crunching sound of paper. He rolled over to his stomach and sighed. He had no choice. It was time to start another day of being a shinobi.

He washed up and dressed as fast as he could, but was slowed down by his aching joints and nauseated stomach. But as he managed to tie on his head band and pull up his mask, he was pleased to see that no one would be able to notice his clammy, pale skin. He might be able to make it through the day. Now he just had to worry about his annoying, stuffed nose and his throat.

He made a hand sign, conjuring Pakkun. The small dog looked up at him and cocked his head to the side. "Kakashi, you don't look so good."

"Gather Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke and tell them to meet me at the Hokage's office." He spoke slowly, making sure to annunciate correctly. He didn't want to sound sick, let alone admit to it. He was going to make it through the day. What choice did he have? Pakkun cocked his head and sighed.

"Ok. Take it easy, though. Let us know if you need any help." And he turned and vanished with a poof. Kakashi sighed, thinking over the dog's words. He must've looked worse than he originally thought. He shrugged to himself, walking out of his apartment and locking the door behind him. Squinting at the bright sunlight, he suppressed a cough and set a semi-fast pace to the Hokage's office.

_I'm going to hear this all day…_ He thought to himself as his team and Tsunade gave him a look over. The Fifth raised her brows at him from her desk. "Kakashi…you look like you could use a little more sleep."

"Just a rough night is all. Nothing too serious." He said hoarsely, wincing at the sound of his voice. Naruto crossed his arms and pouted and Sasuke stood with his hands shoved in his pockets. Sakura blinked, looking up at her sensei with concern.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He didn't answer her; instead, he just smiled at her and looked back at Tsunade. She was looking over a scroll and took in a breath.

"I need you four to deliver a message to the next village over. They placed a request that we cannot complete and I have written the letter that says so. I need you to give it to the village council in person."

"Why do we have to do this, granny? It doesn't sound like something a team would have to do!" Naruto said with annoyance. Tsunade's brow twitched.

"Just have it there by sundown." She eyed Kakashi and he nodded. He knew why she was sending a team. The message wasn't at all what she had just explained. It was a code to be handed to a ninja of a separate village. Which also meant that whatever it said, other ninjas, rogues, would want to get their hands on it as well. He inwardly groaned. It was going to be a bothersome day.

Before he knew it, they were walking outside the gate and down the dirt path to the main forest. They were heading to the village of Seras, a small little dwelling with a tiny population. He'd only been to it a few times and couldn't really remember anything from it. But he did know it was infamous for its hospitality…as long as no one was attacking them at least. "Hey, Kakashi." Sasuke suddenly said. Kakashi looked to his left and saw the teen glancing at him.

"Hmm?"

"You look like crap."

"…" His shoulders drooped forward at the statement and Naruto began to chuckle.

"Yeah, sensei, you look like you're ready to barf!" Sakura glared at her comrade and bonked him on the head, making him yelp.

"Shut your mouth, Naruto! Sensei, you really don't look like you feel good."

"How come you hit me and not Sasuke?"

"Because I hate you!"

"WAHHHH!"

_Why is my team made up of imbeciles?_ Kakashi thought to himself when suddenly he began to sneeze. At first he thought it would only be once or twice, but after the 12th sneeze, he began to feel as if his innards would fall out. He stumbled a little, whipping down his mask and pulling out a rag from his back pocket. His eye was squeezed shut and his shoulders hunched over. He could feel a pair of hands on his shoulders and he opened his eye just enough to see a worried Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke looking at him from behind her. "I'm…o-o-OAHCHOO!" He held the tissue tightly to his nose and mouth with both hands, hating how miserable he was starting to feel it couldn't get any worse.

That was when the coughing began. He doubled over and almost fell to his knees, clutching the tissue as he thought for sure his organs had already come up. "Maybe we should turn around?" Came Sakura's voice, which was shaking a little.

"We're almost to Seras. Perhaps one of us should stay behind with him while the rest of us deliver the message." Sasuke suggested.

"I'm _fine._" Kakashi sputtered, irritated that his team was beginning to try and leave him behind. Naruto shook his head vigorously.

"I don't know, you're really pale, sensei. I think we should maybe send for someone."

"Guys, really, let's just keep moving."

"I don't think we're gonna be able to do that just yet." Sasuke informed them. Kakashi looked up from his hunched over position and felt his eye widen. They had been surrounded by six rogue ninjas. He sighed, wishing he had been paying better attention. Although the ninjas couldn't have exceeded chunin rank, they still needed to be taken care of. And the way his health was beginning to deteriorate, he wasn't sure if it would be as simple.

"Such a shame, I was hoping the great copycat ninja Kakashi would be at his best. Oh well, less casualties that way." Said one of the nins, a sly grin on his gaunt face. He was sporting a bald head and lanky limbs, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts with wrapped legs and bare feet. The rest wore similar attire, some with shirts, and others without. Sakura pulled out a kunai and Naruto balled his hands into fists. Kakashi forced himself to ready for a fight. _Let's just get this over with._

With little effort, Kakashi made a hand sign and suddenly he was outside of the circle, standing straight with his arms at his sides. The six nins fell to the ground, all having been knocked out. The genin blinked and Sakura stowed her kunai away. Naruto pouted and Sasuke stuck out his lip. Kakashi sighed, checking his pouch for the letter. His face fell. _What the hell? The letter!_ He dug into the pouch frantically, feeling his face pale even more as he came to the realization that it was gone.

"Are you looking for the letter?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi turned around slowly, a nervous smile on his sweaty face. "You gave it to me earlier, remember?" The Hatake ran a hand through his hair. The three teens walked ahead of him and shook their heads.

"Wow…Kakashi-sensei should have stayed home today."

"Believe it…"

"Tsk."

"HEY!" He took a step forward to catch up to them when his legs began to shake. He looked down and gasped as his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. The light from the sun began to fade from his sight and he struggled to keep conscious. He could vaguely hear his cell members distressingly call to him, but he couldn't move his mouth to answer. His throat began to clog up and his mind went blank.

. . .

"Mr. Hatake?" Came the voice of a young woman at his side. Kakashi opened his eyes and looked to see a blond ninja with a leaf hitai-ate resting on her forehead. He furrowed his brows and studied her face. She had blue eyes and long hair pulled back in a pony tail. She smiled sweetly at him. "Are you ok?"

". . ." He tried to talk, but his throat was still clogged and his sinuses were so plugged his thought his head was going to split in two. She sighed.

"You know, Tsunade would have understood if you were too sick to carry out the mission. All you had to do was say something." He looked away from her, his masked face reddening. She put her hand on his bare forehead. "You have a fever. You're lucky you didn't pass out before you took care of those pesky ninjas. They were all jonin from the land of stone. Apparently, you're somehow stronger when sick. But don't plan on doing what you did all the time. You managed to use all your chakra. Guess you can't balance anything when you don't feel good." She chuckled at him and he scowled, wishing he could say something back, but decided it was best to relax. His whole body hurt and he felt like he was dying.

"By the way, the message was delivered. That Uchiha kid is quite the prodigy. As for Sakura, well she's not bad, but Naruto has a long way to go." She laughed at her own words, thinking of something he was unaware of when the teens in question burst through the door…well, Naruto burst through the door. Sakura followed suit to hit him again and Sasuke slowly walked in after the coast was clear.

"SENSEI! I THOUGHT YOU DIED!"

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT, HE COULD BE TRYING TO SLEEP!"

"Why don't you both shut up, losers." The woman giggled.

"Quite the team. My name's Chirusea, by the way. We actually went to the academy together a long time ago." She said to Kakashi. He stared at her a moment when it clicked.

"Maara?" He croaked. She nodded.

"Yes! Well, anyway, the fifth sent me here to make sure you guys made it ok and to escort you back. But I'm not letting you leave until you can at least talk." She winked at him and he blushed. The woman was very cute, but he was in no shape to flirt. Although the way she was staring at him, he somehow felt like he wouldn't have to.

"Sensei, hurry up and get better!" Naruto whined.

"Naruto, I swear, one more word out of you and I will put your lights out!"

"Why did I get stuck with a bunch of losers?" Sasuke sighed frustrated.

Kakashi closed his eyes. It was then he realized that even if he did manage to get a sick day, he would never truly have a day off. And the proof of that was in the forms of three teens that would never stop bickering with one another. _Maybe if I go to sleep, I won't wake up._ He thought miserably. But Chirusea's chuckle made him rethink. The three genin didn't _always _have to be there, but she certainly could be anytime.

"You know, I have a jutsu that enables me to read minds. You're such a man…" She whispered to him. He felt his eye open wide.

"Forget it, just kill me."

. . .

End of oneshot. Poor Kakashi can never catch a break. Not even when he's sick, let alone in his own mind. I decided to intro my Naruto character, Chirusea Maara, in here because she will be in a four part story I have written which will soon be posted. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Review!


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